Stimuli inducing the regurgitation of the workers of Lasius flavus (formicidae) upon the myrmecophilous beetle Claviger testaceus (pselaphidae)

Cammaerts, Roger

doi:10.1016/0376-6357(92)90051-e

Cited by 16 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Protoclaviger trichodens gen. et sp. nov. is a stem-group member of Clavigeritae, a speciose supertribe of pselaphine rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) heavily modified for myrmecophily via reduced mouthparts for trophallaxis with worker ants, brush-like trichomes that exude appeasement compounds, and fusions of many body and antennal segments [4,5]. Protoclaviger captures a transitional stage in the evolutionary development of this novel body plan, most evident in its still-distinct abdominal tergites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wick-like brushes of long hairs (trichomes) at the base of the abdomen exude compounds conducted from large secretory Wasmann glands [24,25]. Worker ants find these compounds attractive and lick the beetle's trichomes ( Figure 2; Movie S3), which elicits appeasement, or trophallaxis from ant to beetle [4,5,26]. Hundreds of smaller glands decorate the integument, covering it with a glistening secretion that workers also find appealing [24,25].…”

Section: Protoclaviger and The Evolution Of Myrmecophilous Clavigeritaementioning

confidence: 99%

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Specialized Myrmecophily at the Ecological Dawn of Modern Ants

2014

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Myrmecophiles--species that depend on ant societies--include some of the most morphologically and behaviorally specialized animals known. Remarkable adaptive characters enable these creatures to bypass fortress-like security, integrate into colony life, and exploit abundant resources and protection inside ant nests. Such innovations must result from intimate coevolution with hosts, but a scarcity of definitive fossil myrmecophiles obscures when and how this lifestyle arose. Here, we report the earliest known morphologically specialized and apparently obligate myrmecophile, in Early Eocene (∼ 52 million years old) Cambay amber from India. Protoclaviger trichodens gen. et sp. nov. is a stem-group member of Clavigeritae, a speciose supertribe of pselaphine rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) heavily modified for myrmecophily via reduced mouthparts for trophallaxis with worker ants, brush-like trichomes that exude appeasement compounds, and fusions of many body and antennal segments. Protoclaviger captures a transitional stage in the evolutionary development of this novel body plan, most evident in its still-distinct abdominal tergites. The Cambay paleobiota marks one of the first occurrences in the fossil record of a significant presence of modern ants. Protoclaviger reveals that sophisticated social parasites were nest intruders throughout, and probably before, the ascent of ants to ecological dominance, with ancient groups such as Clavigeritae primed to radiate as their hosts became increasingly ubiquitous.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protoclaviger and The Evolution Of Myrmecophilous Clavigeritaementioning

confidence: 99%

Specialized Myrmecophily at the Ecological Dawn of Modern Ants

2014

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“…Inquilinous species range from opportunistic nest intruders (e.g. Park, , ) to obligate, morphologically specialized guests that are behaviourally integrated into the social organization of host colonies (Donisthorpe, ; Park, ; Akre & Hill, ; Cammaerts, , ; Leschen, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of a superradiation: pselaphine rove beetles in mid‐Cretaceous amber from Myanmar and their evolutionary implications

Parker

2016

Systematic Entomology

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Pselaphinae is an exceptionally species‐rich, globally distributed subfamily of minute rove beetles (Staphylinidae), many of which are inquilines of social insects. Deducing the factors that drove pselaphine diversification and their evolutionary predisposition to inquilinism requires a reliable timescale of pselaphine cladogenesis. Pselaphinae is split into a small and highly plesiomorphic supertribe, Faronitae, and its sister group, the ‘higher Pselaphinae’ – a vast multi‐tribe clade with a more derived morphological ground plan, and which includes all known instances of inquilinism. The higher Pselaphinae is dominated by tribes with a Gondwanan taxonomic bias. However, a minority of tribes are limited to the Nearctic and Palearctic ecozones, implying a potentially older, Pangaean origin of the higher Pselaphinae as a whole. Here, I describe fossils from mid‐Cretaceous (∼99 million years old) Burmese amber that confirm the existence of crown‐group higher pselaphines on the Eurasian supercontinent prior to contact with Gondwanan landmasses. Protrichonyx rafifrons gen. et sp.n. is placed incertae sedis within the higher Pselaphinae. Boreotethys gen.n., erected for B. grimaldii sp.n. and B. arctopteryx sp.n., represents an extinct sister taxon and putative stem group of Bythinini, a Recent tribe with a primarily Holarctic distribution. The Laurasian palaeolocality of the newly described taxa implies that higher pselaphines are indeed probably of Jurassic, Pangaean extraction and that the Laurasian‐Gondwanan tribal dichotomy of this clade may have developed vicariantly following Pangaean rifting. Higher pselaphines probably predate the earliest ants. Their physically protective morphological ground plan may have been a preadaptation for myrmecophily when ants became diverse and ecologically ubiquitous, much later in the Cenozoic. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:36E3FE2A-B947-422D-89CA-0EF43B99C382.

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“…All members of the tribe Clavigerini are believed to be obligate myrmecophiles and are completely dependent on their ant hosts (Chandler, ; Park, ). Both morphospecies recorded in the current study exhibit morphological modifications including: reduced mouthparts for receiving trophallaxis (mouth‐to‐mouth liquid‐feeding) from the worker ants (Park, ; Parker & Grimaldi, ), a reduction and compaction of antenna and abdominal segments that supports the beetle when handled by ant workers and provides a larger surface area for glandular secretions to spread and volatize (Cammaerts, ; Parker, ; Parker & Grimaldi, ); long tufts of trichomes that ornament the base of the abdomen providing an important functional role during trophallaxis feeding by ant workers and social integration inside the ant colonies (Cammaerts, ; Parker & Grimaldi, ). Trichomes facilitate the dispersion of secretions produced by secretory Wasmann glands that are both attractive to and consumed by the worker ants thus initiating trophallaxis by the ant to the beetle (Hill et al, ; Parker & Grimaldi, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant diversity as a direct and indirect driver of pselaphine rove beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) functional diversity in tropical rainforests, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Psomas

Holdsworth

Eggleton

2018

Journal of Morphology

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Pselaphinae is a species-rich beetle subfamily found globally, with many exhibiting myrmecophily-a symbiotic association with ants. Pselaphine-ant associations vary from facultative to obligate, but direct behavioral observations still remain scarce. Pselaphines are speciose and ecologically abundant within tropical leaf litter invertebrate communities where ants dominate, implying a potentially important ecological role that may be affected by habitat disturbances that impact ants. In this study, we measured and analyzed putative functional traits of leaf litter pselaphines associated with myrmecophily through morphometric analysis. We calculated "myrmecophile functional diversity" of pselaphines at different sites and examined this measure's relationship with ant abundance, in both old growth and logged rainforest sites in Sabah, Borneo. We show that myrmecophile functional diversity of pselaphine beetles increases as ant abundance increases. Old growth rainforest sites support a high abundance of ants, which is associated with a high abundance of probable myrmecophilous pselaphines. These results suggest a potential link between adult morphological characters and the functional role these beetles play in rainforest litter as ecological interaction partners with ants.

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Stimuli inducing the regurgitation of the workers of Lasius flavus (formicidae) upon the myrmecophilous beetle Claviger testaceus (pselaphidae)

Cited by 16 publications

References 8 publications

Specialized Myrmecophily at the Ecological Dawn of Modern Ants

Specialized Myrmecophily at the Ecological Dawn of Modern Ants

Emergence of a superradiation: pselaphine rove beetles in mid‐Cretaceous amber from Myanmar and their evolutionary implications

Ant diversity as a direct and indirect driver of pselaphine rove beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) functional diversity in tropical rainforests, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

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